On a collective level, no, it doesn't help. But it's pretty damn hard to blame women who go along with the system when, individually, it might make a big difference in them being able to make it at all versus being shut out. And some women will make the calculation, if their real role in cycling is to be looked at rather than to be considered athletes, that they should do it professionally. In the long run, and even in the short run, it doesn't help because of course it's reinforcement of negative attitudes. There are definitely reasons that many women will choose that route. The thing to do is not to blame them - because why should someone like Liz Hatch have to represent all of womankind when she just wants to earn a damn paycheck? - but to break the perverse incentives that make that kind of calculus appealing. Personally, I would rather watch women race their bikes. When I want titillation, there's a time and a place, but it's away from the road.